Landorus-T [QC 0/3]

Perry

slayer
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QC: ??? / ??? / ???
GP: ??? / ???​

[OVERVIEW]

* Landorus-T possess stellar typing, ability, and movepool which allows it to soft check important threats such as Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Excadrill.
* Even though its only Flying-type STAB is the suboptimal Fly, Flynium Z allows Landorus-T to use a nuke that can OHKO every relevant defogger when boosted by Swords Dance.
* Its base speed is by no means spectacular but it's enough to outspeed powerhouses such as Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, Primal Kyogre, and Dialga.
* Faces sturdy competition from Primal Groudon as the latter is a better Stealth Rock setter, physical sponge, and wallbreaker;
* Unboosted Landorus-T fails to 2HKO defensive Arceus formes even with its solid 145 base Attack, while also being easy prey to common Levitate and Flying-type Pokemon around.
* Landorus-T does not find many switch in opportunities in a tier where most attacks can either OHKO or 2HKO it.

[SET]
name: Flyinium Z Stealth Rock
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Fly
move 3: Stealth Rock
move 4: Swords Dance
item: Flyinium Z
ability: Intimidate
nature: Adamant / Jolly
Evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Earthquake is Landorus-T's strongest STAB, being able to hit most of the tier neutrally.
* Fly is used for Supersonic Strike which, when boosted by Swords Dance, can OHKO every relevant Defogger in the tier after Stealth Rock damage.
* Stealth Rock helps to wear down the opposing team, and as this sets capitalizes on defeating most Defoggers, being able to do so while setting it up is great.
* Swords Dance is used to boost Landorus-T's already solid base attack, allowing Landorus-T to deal as much damage as possible.

Set Details
========

* Maximum Attack and Speed EVs with an Adamant nature ensures that Landorus-T can hit as hard as possible while outspeeding everything slower than neutral-natured base 90 Speed, such as most variants of Primal Kyogre, Primal Groudon, Excadrill, Zekrom, and Ho-Oh.
* Adamant is chosen over Jolly because it grants Landorus-T better odds at OHKOing Giratina after Stealth Rock damage. However, Jolly is an excellent option as it gets a jump on slower base Arceus formes while outspeeding positive-natured base 90s.
* Flyinium Z is mandatory to turn Fly into Supersonic Skystrike.

Usage Tips
========

* This sets capitalizes on luring and defeating common would be answers to Landorus-T such as Arceus and Giratina formes, Salamence, and Zygarde with a powerful Supersonic Strike.
* It's important to note that most defensive Arceus formes are still likely to be faster than even Jolly Landorus-T, therefore try to scout their speed tier beforehand.
* Landorus-T's bulk is rather shallow by Ubers standards and needs to be kept healthy to check threats such as Primal Groudon and Mega Lucario. It's important to bring it forth either by U-Turn, predicted Ground- or Electric-type moves or after a teammate has fainted.
* However, some threats that Landorus-T is supposed to soft check may all carry coverage to deal with it, examples including mixed Primal Groudon and Ice Beam from Extreme Killer Arceus and Mega Mewtwo X.
* Even though Fly isn't a bad move per se, as it does hit a significant portion of the metagame at very least neutrally, it fails to do much damage to the walls Landorus-T is supposed to defeat with Supersonic Strike. Thus, be careful when using it: always try to keep it for your opponent's defogger.

Team Options
========

* Landorus-T appreciates Sticky Web support from Smeargle and Shuckle as it becomes faster than every defogger bar the rare defensive Mega Salamence. Landorus-T is also able to set up Stealth Rock which opens a slot for a better utility move on both.
* Mega Lucario, Extreme Killer Arceus, Mega Salamence, Arceus-Ground and Mega Salamence all appreciate Landorus-T's ability to defeat Arceus and Giratina formes, as well as weaken Zygarde and defensive Yveltal.
* Mega Gengar can trap and cripple most of Landorus-T's checks, while Landorus-T provides an important Ground-type immunity and an answer to Primal Groudon.
* Xerneas is a great partner for Landorus-T, as the latter can defeat Primal Groudon and most Steel-types with its Ground-type STAB while the former pressures defensive Arceus and Giratina formes.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

* Outrage and Dragonium Z can be used instead, as Landorus-T would then be able to OHKO Giratina-O without the need of Swords Dance, possibly freeing a moveslot for U-Turn. However, Fly hits a broader amount of Pokemon in the tier.
* Landorus-T can also be a bulky Stealth Rock setter, as it's then able to switch into physical attacks a little easier. Earthquake, Stealth Rock, Toxic, and Stone Edge can help Landorus-T emergency checking a lot of the physical threats in the tier while retaining some firepower due to its high Attack stat and Toxic. This role is, however, indefinitely better done by Primal Groudon.
* Choice Scarf Landorus-T does a good job at pressuring teams with its decent EdgeQuake coverage, U-Turn, and Intimidate. However, Ubers is a very dangerous tier for a Choice-locked Ground-type as there are a fair amount of Levitate and Flying-type Pokemon that can take advantage of it.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Skarmory, Bronzong, and Celesteela**: Being immune to Ground and taking little damage from Landorus-T's coverage moves, they can wall Landorus-T comfortably and possibly cripple it with Toxic, Leech Seed, or set up entry hazards.

**Giratina formes**: Both Giratina formes can check Landorus-T by either sheer physical bulk or Levitate, shrugging most of the moves Landorus-T throws at them with ease. However, they are both OHKOed by a boosted Supersonic Strike after Stealth Rock.

**Faster foes**: Due to its lackluster Speed, Landorus-T will find itself often outspeed if Sticky Web is not on the opponent field. Therefore, every special or mixed attacker in the tier will scare Landorus-T off as they're able to dispose of it without many problems

**Zygarde-C**: With an incomparable physical bulk, Zygarde-C walls Landorus-T with ease throughout the match, being able to shrug the damage from even boosted moves and proceed to phaze or cripple it with Glare. However, Zygarde cannot switch on freely on Landorus-T if it's not already in its Complete Form, and even then, a boosted Supersonic Strike or Devastating Drake can severely cripple Zygarde.

**Flying-type Pokemon**: By virtue of being immune to Landorus-T's Earthquake, Lugia, defensive Mega Salamence, and defensive Yveltal can wall Landorus-T throughout the match and, even worse, are not affected by Sticky Web and thus may be faster than Landorus-T as well. They are, however, crippled by Stealth Rock.

**Water and Ice-types**: Primal Kyogre, Palkia, Mega Gyarados, Arceus-Ice, Kyurem-W, and Cloyster are all bulky enough to take an unboosted Earthquake and OHKO Landorus-T back.
 
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Physically defensive is probably the best set atm as it actually has a buffer vs Marshadow lacking HP Ice and a lot of physical mons. Primal Groudon running more special moves than it used to is bad for it but thats the risk you take with this mon I'd say.

[SET]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: U-turn
move 3: Stealth Rock
move 4: Stone Edge
item: Rocky Helmet
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def

Lets have this as the first set and revamp the necessary parts (overview/team options) to accomodate it and we'll see where we are.
 
Mr. Perry
24 hours on this + shuckle before reassignment

e: after some discussion on discord its not looking likely that this will be finished - reassigning
 
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